Going Places | Class 12 English

Going Places

Table of Contents

Very Short Answer Type Questions: (1 Marks)

1. Who is the writer of ‘Going Places’?
Ans: A. R. Barton is the writer of ‘Going Places’.

2. Who are the two friends in the story, ‘Going Places’?
Ans: Sophie and Jansie are the two friends in the story.

3. What does Sophie want to have when she grows up?
Ans: Sophie wanted to have a boutique of her own.

4. Where was it most likely that the two girls would find work after school?
Ans: The two girls would find work in the biscuit factory after school.

5. Who is Derek?
Ans: Derek was the younger brother of Sophie.

6. Who is Geoff?
Ans: Geoff was Sophie’s elder brother.

7. Who is Danny Casey?
Ans: Danny Casey was an Irish football player.

8. Which country does he play for?
Ans: He plays for the United.

9. For whom does Sophie ask Danny Casey an autograph?
Ans: Sophie asked Danny Casey an autograph for Derek.

10. Does Sophie really meet Danny Casey?
Ans: Sophie doesn’t really meet Danny Casey but only imagines meeting him.

11. Which is the only occasion that Sophie gets to see Casey in person?
Ans: The only occasion that Sophie gets to see Danny Casey is in the field when they watch the match every Saturday.”

Short Answer Type Questions: (2 Marks)

1. What does Sophie want to do after she passes out of school? [2013, 2015, 2017]
Ans: Sophie had a bundle of big deams,she wants to have a amazing boutique the city has ever seen. Besides, she desires to become an actress or a fashion designer. She can run boutique as side business.

2. What was it most-likely that the two girls would find work after school?
Ans: Sophie and Jansee belonged to lower middle class families. Sophie dreamed of big and beautiful things which were beyond her reach and mean. Jansee was more practical and realistic. Jansee knew that they were both earmarked for the biscuit factory.

3. What job is Geoff engaged in? Does he entertain would dreams like his sister? [2012, 2017]
Ans: Geoff was engaged as an apprentice mechanic. He has to travel to his work place each day to the far side of the city. He is not a day-dreamer like his sister. Perhaps he knows his and his family’s limitations better than her.

4. How does Sophie’s father react when Geoff tells him about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Ans: Geoff breaks the news to his father that Sophie met the Irish prodigy Danny Casey. Her father turns his head at her in disbelief. His expression is one of disdain. He completely ignores the news. He goes on to talk about Tom Finny and Danny Casey. “This is another of your wild stores,” he declares.

5. How does Sophie describe her imagined meeting with Danny Casey to Geoff? Does Geoff believe her?
Ans: Sophie tells Geoff that she met Danny Casey in the arcade. They met at the Royce’s window for the first time. It was she who spoke first and asked if he was Casey. He looked surprised. He was certainly Danny Casey. Before going he promised to give his autograph if she cared to meet him next week. No, Geoff doesn’t believe her.

6. Why was the visit of Sophie’s father and his family to watch United equal to ‘their weekly pilgrimage’?
Ans: Sophie’s father was a football fan. He was taking a lot of interest in the growing career of the young Irish genius Danny Casey. Geoff too was interested in football. Sophie was mad after Danny Casey. The celebrity was her personal hero. Watching Casey playing for United was like a religious or holly weekly ritual for the family.

7. Why did Sophie Curse Geoff? Why did she say “Damn that Geoff, it was not a Jansie thing”?
OR: Why did Sophie not want Jansie to know anything about her meeting with Danny Casey?
Ans: Sophie didn’t want Jansie to know anything about her meeting with Danny Casey. Sophie knew that her classmate and friend Jansie was ‘nosey’. She took especial interest in knowing new things about others. She came to know of her story of meeting with Danny Casey through Geoff. She cursed Geoff because Sophie didn’t believe Jansie. She could spread the rumour in the whole neighbourhood.

8. How did Jansie react at Sophie’s story of her meeting with Danny Casey?
Ans: Jansie was a classmate and friend of Sophie. She knew her quite well. She was also aware of her day-dreaming habit. She exclaimed: “You never did!” But when Sophie continued telling her how she asked him for an autograph, she relented a bit. She said, “Jesus, I wish I’d have been there.”

9. Sophie would sit for hours wishing Danny would come. What made her sad and despondent in the end?
Ans: Sophie would sit down on a wooden bench beneath a solitary elm tree. She imagined Danny Casey’s coming. She could realize the time passing. Pangs of doubt stirred inside her. She would become sad and despondent. Danny wouldn’t come at all. She feared that people would laugh at the story of her meeting with Casey.

10. “Sophie dreams and disappointments are all in her mind.” Discuss.
Ans: It is true that Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are all in her mind. She is crazy and lets her lose in Danny Casey’s dreams. She imagines her meeting with Casey. She hopes against hopes. Her day-dreaming leads to despondency. So Sophie’s dreams and disappointments are not real. They are merely the products of her mind.

11. What theme does the story, ‘Going Places’ explore? [2014]
Ans: The story ‘going places’ explores the theme of adolescent fanaticizing and hero worshipping. Sophie a young girl fanaticizes her meeting with a Danny Casely and becomes responsible for her own sadness and disappointment.

12. What kind of a person is Geoff?
Ans: Geoff was a quiet boy and kept his views to himself. He spoke little and did not share his views with others. He was the first person with whom Sophie shared all her secrets. She was jealous of his silence and for her it seemed that when he was quiet he was in those places where she had never been.

13. Why is Sophie ‘jealous of his silence’?
Ans: Sophie was ‘jealous of his silence’, Geoff spoke little and she envied his silence. To her it seemed that when he was quiet, he was in those places where she had never been.

14. What is incongruous about the ‘delicate bow which fastened the apron strings of Sophie’s mother? [2016]
Ans: Sophie’s mother was wearing an apron and its strings were fastened with a delicate bow which displayed the status of their family and the busy mother in managing the household. This also explains the character of Sophie, why she likes to lead a sophisticated life.

15. How dies Danny Casey look like?
Ans: Danny Casey was a short stature man who had green eyes. Sophie visualized his appearance as having gentle green eyes.

16. Why doesn’t her father believe her?
Ans: Sophie’s father also refused to believed his daughters’ claim. No doubt, he is crazy and a great fan of young Danny Casey. But when Geoff tells him that Sophie met Danny Casey his father turns his head to look at her. His expression is one of ‘disdain’. He ignores her totally. He thinks that his is another of her ‘wild story’.”

Long Answer Type Questions: (6 Marks)

1. Compare and contrast Sophie and Jansie highlighting their temperament and aspirations.
OR: Compare and contrast Sophie and Jansie.
Ans: Sophie and Jansie are class-fellows and friends. They belong to lower middle class families. Jansie understands his limitations well. She knows that both of them are earmarked for the biscuit factory. But Sophie is totally blind to the harsh realities of life. She dreams of big and beautiful things. She wants to have a boutique. She also entertains the idea of becoming an actress. She loves to be nice, grand and sophisticated. All her dreams are beyond her reach and resources.

Sophie and Jansie are poles apart in thinking and temperament. Sophie is all lost to herself and her dreamy world. There is only one person who first shares her secrets. He is her elder brother Geoff. Jansie is ‘nosey’ and takes interest in knowing new things about others. Sophie knows she will spread the story in the whole neighbourhood. Sophie is an incurable escapist. She adores the young Irish footballer Danny Casey. She remains what she always in-a dreamer.

2. Who was Geoff? How did he share Sophie’s secrets though he had a temperament and thinking different from that of his sister?
Ans: Geoff was Sophie’s elder brother. He was an apprentice mechanic. He travelled to his work each day to the far side of the city. He spoke very little. Words had to be prized out of him. Sophie was jealous of Geoff’s silence. Geoff never dreamt of big and beautiful things beyond his reach or means. He was mature enough to understand his limitations and those of his family.

Geoff was always the first to share Sophie’s secrets. He knew that Sophie’s story of meeting with Danny Casey was not true. Still he listened to her. Sophie had confidence in him. Like an elder brother Geoff tried to reason with Sophie. He warned her that Danny Casey was a celebrity. He must have many girls like her running after him.

Geoff and Sophie shared a common trait. That was their fascination for the Irish prodigy Danny Casey. But Sophie entertained romantic fascination of Casey.

3. Describe Sophie’s father highlighting his passion for football, his strange habits and his attitude to Sophie.
Ans: Sophie’s father is a dominating personality. He is a typical representative of the lower middle class family. He lacks refined manners or sophistication. The way he eats the pie exposes his rough eating habits. Watching football on the television is his favourite pastime. He goes to the pub quite often.

Sophie’s father has passion for football. He is an old admirer of Tom Finny, a great footballer. He adores the upcoming young footballer Casey as all his children. He is sure that one day Danny Casey may prove even better than Finny. He wishes he would “keep his head over his shoulders”. Casey plays for United. So he makes a ‘weekly pilgrimage’ to watch United and Casey in action.

Sophie’s father doesn’t seem to be very sympathetic towards his daughter. He often looks at her in disdain. He ignores her completely. But he understands his daughter will. He doesn’t believe in her meeting with Casey. He considers it another of her “wild stories”.

4. Why does Sophie feel close to her brother Geoff more than anyone else in her family? What does he symbolize to her?
Ans: No one except brother Geoff could know and understand Sophie well. Sophie likes her brother Geoff more than any other person in the world. She can open her heart to him. She knows that Geoff is the person who can listen to her ‘wild stories’. Her father is too bossy and aggressive. He hates Sophie’s fantastic stories. Jansie is her classmate and friend. But Jansie is ‘nosey’. She can’t be trusted. But Geoff can be trusted to keep all Sophie’s secrets to himself.

Sophie likes and loves Geoff very much. She is eager to share even those areas of his life about which she knows nothing. She is jealous of his silence. Words have to be prized out of him. Geoff is the only one she can talk to about Danny Casey. Geoff is always the first to share her interests. In his own way he tries to tell her that ‘Casey must have strings of girls’. He would never show up again. But he does so in a manner that may not break the young heart of a day-dreamer.